Richard Keys: Football Focus axe is ‘sign of the times’ and MOTD will be next
Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys says it is a “sign of the times” that Football Focus is being axed – and warned Match of the Day will be next.
The BBC announced the Saturday lunchtime programme would not continue after this season, having first aired in 1974.
The corporation insisted that “changing audience behaviours” had prompted it to act.
Presenter Alex Scott said she feared a “toxic” social media backlash and sexist remarks were indeed directed at her in comments under an Instagram message she posted on Thursday.
Keys, who fronted Sky’s Premier League coverage between 1992 and 2011, shared his views on X on Friday afternoon, writing: “It’s not Alex Scott’s fault Football Focus has folded – it’s a sign of the times. MOTD will be next.
“Viewing habits have changed. That’s why Grandstand & World of Sport ended. And Sportsnight. Pre-show & post-show wrapped around live games will go soon as well.”
The BBC has not commented on Keys’ remarks but sources close to the corporation insisted Match of the Day had increased its reach this season.
The number of digital accounts accessing MOTD content is understood to be up 21 per cent year on year, while overall digital consumption of MOTD content has risen sharply, with total digital requests up 36 per cent compared with last season and 87 per cent compared with the 2022–23 season.
There has been only a slight decline in viewing figures for the flagship Saturday night highlights programme in line with wider industry trends in live television, and its overall reach has grown.
The new rights deal with the Premier League has enabled it to air highlights digitally at 8pm, resulting in expanded access.
Scott said it had been “incredibly special” to have been part of Football Focus but admitted: “Sometimes things change, but when this show began all those years ago, social media wasn’t a driving force, podcasts didn’t exist, and there was no instant access to information in the way there is today.
“Now, by the time that we go on air, the reality is that you have already seen it, debated it, and lived it across so many platforms. That shift has changed the whole industry.”